For three years, Amber lived with compartment syndrome, thinking the terrible pain in her legs while training with her regiment was just shin splints.
A super-fit G.I. has revealed how her brutal US army training regime triggered a rare “10 in a million” muscular condition, forcing her to have her legs “sliced open.”
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For three years, Amber lived with compartment syndrome, thinking the terrible pain in her legs while training with her regiment was just shin splints.
She continued: “If you stop you get into big trouble. So, every day I would have to fight through an enormous pain barrier.”
She then had a fasciotomy – a surgical procedure in which the leg muscles are cut open with a scalpel to relieve pressure.
When she joined up, beginning her basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, she felt confident that she would sail through it.
But while she excelled in all other areas of basic training, scoring the highest marks in her sit-up and press-up examinations, her running and marching remained poor.
“I saw a new doctor. He took one look and said the words ‘compartment syndrome'” she said.
The operation was a success, but has left her with large incisions in her legs, which were sewn up with black stitching.
But Amber is incredibly grateful to surgeons for finally relieving her pain and she believes saving her career.
Experiencing an agonising tightness in her lower legs, after just a few minutes of running, Amber Jameson, 21, was mortified when she lagged behind other members of her company on their demanding four-mile runs every other day.
Repeatedly failing running and marching tests and fearing she might lose her job, Amber, of North Port, Florida, USA, sought medical help, but was told she had ‘shin splints,’ a general diagnosis for pain in the front of the lower legs.
Eventually, three years after her excruciating pain started, in June 2018 she was diagnosed with compartment syndrome – caused by a build up of pressure in the compartments of the muscles and thought to affect only 10 people in every million, according to experts studying the condition.
Recalling the physical and emotional pain she endured, Amber, who joined the army straight from school in 2015, said: “Sometimes, I’d just burst into tears when I was out running because of the pain.
“In my line of work this is embarrassing, when you’re surrounded by other soldiers who are yelling at you all the time to keep up.”
Amber at the gym (PA photo)
She continued: “If you stop you get into big trouble. So, every day I would have to fight through an enormous pain barrier.”
Convinced she was not good enough, the young recruit became increasingly desperate to find out what was causing her suffering.
When doctors at Evans Memorial Hospital, Colorado, finally diagnosed her problem, she said: “I was terrified, as it sounded so serious, but it was good to know that it wasn’t my imagination and there would be an end to it.”
But the treatment was gruelling.
First she had a pressure test, which involved having a four-inch needle stuck into each leg on eight separate occasions.
“It was the most traumatic experience of my life,” she said, recalling the pain.
Amber's legs two weeks on from her fasciotomy surgery (PA photo)
She then had a fasciotomy – a surgical procedure in which the leg muscles are cut open with a scalpel to relieve pressure.
Now recovering and back on duty, Amber, who is stationed in middle America, had the treatment in August 2018 and hopes to be fully healed within four months.
Originally from North Port, Florida, USA, Amber, who is single, was always an active sportswoman, even before she joined the army after leaving school – playing softball for a local youth team and enjoying dance and gymnastics.
Amber on top of Pikes Peak in Colorado (PA photo)
When she joined up, beginning her basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, she felt confident that she would sail through it.
But, after just a few weeks, she was struggling to keep up with her fellow recruits.
“Every week we would go for company runs as well as ruckmarches – an eight-mile march with a 45-pound rucksack on your back,” said Amber.
She added: “Pretty soon it became really hard for me. My calves would become totally tensed up, my legs would bulge and my feet became so heavy that they seemed to be flapping against the ground.
“I’m naturally a very competitive person and not being able to keep up was really difficult. ”
Desperate to improve and blaming herself for lagging behind, Amber started going to the gym each night after work, thinking she simply was not fit enough.
Amber after one of her nightly sessions at the gym (PA photo)
But while she excelled in all other areas of basic training, scoring the highest marks in her sit-up and press-up examinations, her running and marching remained poor.
Repeatedly diagnosed with shin splints by doctors, she spent “a fortune” on new trainers each month, hoping they would alter her supposedly faulty running style – but they did not.
Despite only just scraping through fitness tests, Amber progressed through her training, eventually becoming a qualified systems operator, specialising in satellites and antennae repair and operations.
But the problem persisted and, after two years of consistently being the last to cross the finish line in marches and company runs, Amber feared she would lose her job.
She explained: “I was freaking out, thinking my career could be over.”
Visiting doctors one last time, she finally had a breakthrough.
Amber after her fasciotomy surgery (PA photo)
“I saw a new doctor. He took one look and said the words ‘compartment syndrome'” she said.
“He suggested I go for a pressure test and gave me some videos to watch, before I decided to go ahead with it.
“It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen, I was freaking out wondering if it would be worth having these huge needles stuck into my leg.”
But she bravely went ahead with the treatment for what she later discovered was a chronic case of the condition.
“The normal pressure levels in the compartments of the muscles are below 35 – mine were over 100,” said Amber.
She also had fasciotomy surgery – an operation to cut into the compartments of the leg muscles, to release the build up of pressure – in August 2018.
Amber's legs following her pressure test (PA photo)
The operation was a success, but has left her with large incisions in her legs, which were sewn up with black stitching.
“I’m a young woman and I like wearing shorts. So I said to the surgeon, please do this in a way that is as cosmetically appealing as possible,” she said.
“He has put in dissolvable stitches, but still my legs look very ugly and I have to come to terms with that.”
Amber's legs two weeks on from her fasciotomy surgery (PA photo)
But Amber is incredibly grateful to surgeons for finally relieving her pain and she believes saving her career.
She said: “I’m really far behind mentally at the moment, so going back to work is a bit daunting.
“But I am really excited to be able to run properly and exercise again.”
She continued: “My main goal right now is actually to run a marathon sometime next year. I want to prove to myself that my difficulties weren’t down to me but down to the compartment syndrome.”
Amber at a check-up following her operation (PA photo)